Editor's Notes

The Movie Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

Being a movie reviewer can be dangerous work. You never know who is out there,
reading what you've written, and waiting to take revenge. God forbid you spit on someone's favorite classic -- in my day, I've gotten my fair share
of hate mail, from the mundane (one reader actually sent me a rotted pumpkin
in the mail for failing to find 'Halloween III' an undiscovered masterpiece)
to the near-psychotic (I had to change my email address -- twice -- after an
irate veteran apparently didn't like my trashing of 'Pearl Harbor' and predicted
I might suffer a premature demise). So it is with great trepidation I go into
any review of a film that has a sizable and vocal fanbase.

So it goes with 'King Kong,' a film beloved before it even hit cinemas.
Thanks to the 'Rings' phenomenon, Peter Jackson is Hollywood's new heir apparent
to Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and James Cameron all rolled into one. So, to not like 'Kong' is almost heretical.
Sure, the film wasn't quite the gargantuan box office hit predicted, but the faithful still bent over backwards trying to downplay the film's
faults and over-inflate its positives. And nothing I can say will likely change
anyone's mind. So if you like this movie, skip right on down to the technical
portions of this review. Because I hated this heartfelt if woefully
miscalculated would-be blockbuster. Painfully overlong, horribly structured,
badly cast, and containing some of the worst CGI I've ever seen, I couldn't wait
for Kong to finally fall off the top of that stupid building and crush Naomi
Watts along with him, just so the whole dumb thing would be over with.

The story: Ann Darrow (Watts) is a struggling B-movie actress in 1920s America.
Lovelorn and desperate for big-screen stardom, she hooks up with shady filmmaker
Carl Denham (Jack Black), who whisks her and a makeshift crew off to a remote
island, in the hopes of capturing "exotic" footage for a new potboiler.
Along for the ride is Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), who is in love with Ann,
but she has another, slightly more rotund suitor waiting for her on the island.
After a bunch of interminable scenes on a boat involving instantly forgettable
supporting characters, the crew is captured by a village of savages, with Ann
being served as the main course for Kong. After even more interminable 'Jurassic
Park'-lite scenes involving Kong fighting (and fighting, and fighting) with
dinosaurs, and Gollum (Andy Serkis) being attacked by giant bugs, Kong and Ann
fall in love. Of course, as with all tragic romances, fate intervenes -- Denham
cares little for romance, only profit, and soon poor Kong is New York's new
star attraction. But love has no bounds, especially when your boyfriend weighs
six tons, and the Big Apple now has one very big problem on its hands -- this
one won't end happily.

The tale of 'King Kong' is, of course, a classic. Yes it's ridiculous --
a woman and a giant ape falling in love? But the power of King Kong has always
been that it is a fairy tale, a tragic fable of beauty that killed the beast.
Which is why I was so exasperated by Jackson's take on the material. For the
first two-thirds of the film's very long 187 minutes -- and even more padded in its extended 200-minute version, which is also included here -- Jackson seems to care little
about his two leads. Instead, we get endless subplot after endless subplot, none of which
pay off in any meaningful way. It is almost as if Jackson is obsessed with telling
the backstories of everyone but Ann and Kong. And the island scenes, while decent enough as action filler, also have little to do with the heart
of the story. Ann's relationship with Kong is certainly touching -- even a cold-hearted
cynic like myself was misty-eyed as our doomed lovers made goo-goo eyes
at each other on the edge of a giant cliff -- but it is surrounded by so much
banal business that I nearly fell asleep.

I also remain utterly bewildered as to why today's filmmakers are so in love
with their CGI toys. Precious few moments in 'King Kong' (or,
for that matter the new 'Star Wars' films, or the 'Spider-Man' franchise, or
'Harry Potter...') look even remotely photo-realistic. Kong always looks like
a digital creation, and after countless, monotonous scenes of normally excellent
actors running in front of blue screen, pretending they are being chased by
monsters, I was completely taken out of the world Jackson hoped to immerse me
in. I'm not suggesting we go back to the era of latex puppets and bad matte paintings,
but how about a bit more restraint? The herky-jerky rhythms of Kong and his
dinos are a complete violation of physics, and no human body could withstand
half of what Naomi Watts goes through in this movie and still be in one piece.
This whole CGI craze continues to leave me frustrated and emotionally alienated
-- I mustered more tears when that Ewok in a furry teddy bear costume died in
'Return of the Jedi' than during the whole three hours of 'Kong.'

Yes, I did find a few things in 'King Kong' to like. It is a handsome
production, and whenever anything real is onscreen (a prop, a location, a costume)
it hints at the authenticity that might have been. I also continue to admire
Watts, Brody and Serkis as actors -- I'm sure they'll look back at this one
with a shrug, as the one that got away. With a more streamlined story, less
reliance on excessive special effects, and a director concerned with humanity
and not technology, 'Kong' could have been a classic. Instead, it actually left
me nostalgic for that classic camp-fest that was 1976's 'King Kong' -- the one
starring Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges and some guy in a monkey suit. At least
that version (as bad it was) knew when to quit.

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

'King Kong' first arrived on HD DVD in a 2.40:1 widescreen 1080p/VC-1 transfer, which featured the film's 187-minute version only. It was a highly-anticipated release, and as I noted in my original review, a five-star, reference-quality high-def presentation. The film now arrives on Blu-ray over two years later, and nothing much has changed. We now get the option of either the 187 or 200-minute versions (accessible via seamless branching and spread across a BD-50 dual-layer disc), and the source is the same. The additional footage is seamlessly integrated, making watching either cut a pleasure.

My personal feelings about the CGI notwithstanding, 'King Kong' is a visually
sumptuous film. The production design, costumes and physical locations are simply
some of the finest Hollywood has produced in recent memory (I guess when you
have a $200 million production budget you can afford the best). I remain tremendously
impressed by the cinematography by Andrew Lesnie. He gives the film a supple,
rich and textured look that is both pristine yet realistic, modern and timeless.
The film's luscious color scheme comes through wonderfully on high-def. Hues are
perfectly saturated and fleshtones dead-on. There is a slight softness to the image that is consistent with Lesnie and Peter
Jackson's use of filters and diffused lighting, but it does not affect this
transfer's wonderful sense of depth and three-dimensionality. Sure, it is a
cliche, but there are moments during 'King Kong' that are picture perfect, where
your home theater screen becomes a window.

Given the film's extensive computer-generated imagery, some may find fault
with the effects-heavy scenes that sometimes look a bit flatter and less sharp. In particular,
the heavy motion blur applied to Kong and his various nemeses -- such as the dinosaurs --
does give those scenes a more muted and fuzzy look. But that's the way it goes
with today's heavily-processed visual effects extravaganzas, and even the "worst"
shots of 'Kong' still hold up with the best I've seen on Blu-ray. 'King Kong' didn't disappoint the first time around on HD DVD, and it doesn't disappoint now.

The majority of 'King Kong' sounds demo-worthy. The many bombastic
fight scenes and Kong rampages are sonic nirvana. The Kong vs. Dinos scene remains my highlight, as is the extended climax on top of the Empire State
Building. The 360-degree soundfield that is created is simply flawless and incredibly
immersive as the bi-planes whiz around Kong's head. It's clear the sound designers outdid themselves in having fun with the mix -- transparency, pans and the sense
of detail and realism to the discrete effects is second-to-none ('King Kong' didn't
win the Oscar for Best Sound for nothing). Dynamics are also incredibly powerful,
with low bass some of the best I've heard in recent months.

'King Kong' can be subtle, too. The sense of atmosphere is first-rate. The early scenes with Jack Black and company
near the jungle island are alive with ambience and intricate sound effects.
And when the crew is first surrounded by the island savages, the wall of sound
that envelopes is quite effective. Dialogue is perfectly balanced in the mix. I never once had to adjust
my volume control, which is a true rarity for a film like 'King Kong.' I didn't love the film, but I loved this soundtrack.

The Supplements: Digging Into the Good Stuff

Universal didn't offer much in the way of extras for 'King Kong' when it released the film on HD DVD. Same goes for this Blu-ray at first glance -- the myriad of featurettes and other making-of material found on the extensive DVD versions is missing here as a stand-alone supplements (however, some material has been repurposed into Blu-ray exclusive content, see below). We only get a single, dedicated extra.

Audio Commentary - This track features director Peter Jackson and screenwriter Phillippa Boyens, and it's available on the extended cut of the film only. Not only is it a long track, but it's sometimes so highly-technical I couldn't help but fade out. Every detail of the film's effects and CGI Kong are dissected in such detail that it's more instructive for the film student or effects apprentice than for the casual fan. Jackson does touch upon his love for the story, his desire to remake it, and the performances, but the absence of any of the hours of featurettes included on the standard DVD is obvious here. This track is geared towards the technical, so take that into account before sitting through it.

HD Bonus Content: Any Exclusive Goodies in There?

In absence of the dedicated extras found on the various DVD editions of 'King Kong,' Universal has recombined a good portion (but not all) of the featurettes and behind-the-scenes material into new, exclusive content.

Picture-in-Picture - The mega-collector's DVD of 'King Kong' was quite an impressive set, spanning four discs and housing hours of supplement material. This PIP track (accessible via the U-Control menu) plays like a pretty good "greatest hits" of the content. We are guided from conception through production to post-tinkering and the CGI, with interviews with all the cast and crew, video diary footage from the set, and detailed effects footage. On its own, this is a strong PIP track -- it's not for completists who want to replace their DVD version, but for those who want a more digestible way to watch the same basic material.

BD-Live - Hear you can access My Scenes to bookmark your favorite chapters, and if you're player is BD-Live-enabled, share them with others on the web. But that's it.

Final Thoughts

I just didn't love 'King Kong.' It's an ambitious and faithful retelling of the classic tale, but it's also overloaded with subplots and a bit too cold for its own good. I never warmed to its characters. This Blu-ray is quite excellent on a base level -- the video and audio are excellent -- but the lack of all of the extras found on previous DVD editions makes this not quite the ultimate collector's edition. Diehard fans may want to pick this up if they just want the film, but hold off if you are waiting for the definitive edition.

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